Land levelers



y 1958 L... E. SHUMAKER arm; 2;842,874

LAND LEVELER$ 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 13, 1956 L. E. SHUMAKER Er-AL 2,842,874

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LAND LEVELERSI 3 Sheets-Sheet. 3

Filed Feb. 13, 1956 mm m m R M United States Patent LAND LEVELERS Lawrence E. Shumaker and Cecil I. Beck, Denver, (3010., assignors to Eversman Manufacturing Co., Denver, Colo.

Application February 13, 1956, Serial No. 565,1il9

9 Claims. (Cl. Si -153) This invention relates to a land leveler of the type illustrated in Shumaker prior Patents Nos. 2,277,889 and 2,650,441. Land levelers of this type are provided with a long leveling base for accurate leveling purposes, and with gauge wheels which follow the contour of the ground and control a scraper blade for cutting away the high portions and filling in the low portions thereof to provide a perfectly level field.

Levelers of this type have an exceedingly long articulated supporting truss the forward and rear portions of i which may move relatively when the leveler is turned at the end of the leveled path. It has been found that when making such a turn the truss is deprived of its usual level base support, and as a result the scraper blade will be depressed to gouge a hollow in the ground at the turning point.

The principal object of this invention is to provide automatic means which will tend to increase the support of the scraper blade when the leveler is being urned for return travel so as to maintain the perfect level of the blade throughout the arc of the turn.

Another object of the invention is to provide resilient means for urging the gauge wheels against the ground surface with increased pressure while the leveler is being turned to provide support for the supporting truss and to provide an automatic la-nd leveling device which can, when desired, be used for conventional dirt moving and excavating purposes.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, economy and efliciency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawing which forms a part thereof. Like numerals refer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout the description. a t

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the improved land leveler;

Fig. 2 is a side view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged, longitudinal section, taken on the line 3-3, Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a similarly enlarged, fragmentary, plan view of the portion of the improved land leveler illustrated in Fig. 3;

- Fig. 5 is an enlarged side view of the mid-section of the improved leveling device, with the near wheel and rear truss section removed;

Fig.6 is a fragmentary plan view of the portion illustrated in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view, taken on the line 7-7, Fig. 3; and

Fig. 8 is a similar detail sectional view, taken on the line 8--8, Fig. 3.

The improved land leveler employs a longitudinally extending medial truss member formed of three sections, an inclined forward truss section 10, a susbtantially horiice zontal middle truss section 11, and a hinged, inclined rear truss section 12 consisting of two side members arranged in V-shaped relation.

The weight of the entire truss member is supported from the ground at the rear upon a pair of rear trailing wheels 13 and at the front upon a front smoothing blade 14. The front smoothing blade 14 is fixedly mounted on the rear extremity of a tongue member 15. The forward extremity of the tongue member 15 is supported from any suitable towing vehicle through the medium of a tow bar hitch 16.

The forward extremity of the forward truss section is mounted on the tongue member intermediate the tow bar hitch 16 and the blade 14 by means of any suitable adjustable universal mounting device 17.

The trailing wheels 13 are mounted on the extremities of a trailing wheel axle 18 extending across the base of the rear truss section 12. A rear smoothing shoe 19 is suspended from the axle 18 through the medium of suspension brackets 20 so that it will trail rearwardly of the wheels 13.

The rear truss section 12 is provided with a substantially vertical bearing tube 21 at its forward extremity. The bearing tube is welded against the forward face of an end plate'22 which secures the forward extremities of the side members of the rear truss section 12 together. The side members are reinforced at their point of attachment by means of a suitable gusset plate 23.

The bearing tube 21 contains a vertical hinge shaft 24 mounted in suitable anti-friction bearings 79. The shaft 24 terminates at its bottom in a conical lower extremity 25 and at its top in a square upper extremity 26. The rear truss section 12 is attached to the rear of the middle truss section 11 by placing the conical lower extremity 25 of the hinge shaft 24 in a receiving socket formed in a lower hinge bracket member 27 and by swinging a hinged flap 28 over the square extremity 26 of the hinge shaft 24, the flap 28 being provided with a square opening for receiving the square upper extremity 26 so as to prevent rotation of the hinge shaft 24. After the hinge flap 28 has been brought into position over the top square extremity 26 of the hinge shaft 24, it is clamped in this position by means of a vertical clamp bolt 77 which extends upwardly through the lower hinge bracket member 27 and through the hinge flap 28, terminating in a suitable clamp nut '78.

The middle truss section 11 consists of two parallel, spaced-apart channel members, and the hinge bracket member 27 extends upwardly and forwardly between the two channel members and is Welded thereto to provide a spacing truss member therebetween, as shown in broken line at 27, Fig. 3.

The flap 28 is formed with two oppositely projecting hinge studs 29, each of which is received in a bearing clamp 30, there being one of the bearing clamps 30 secured to the rear extremity of each of the side members of the middle truss section 11. The bearing clamps 30 can be clamped upon the studs 29 by means of suitable clamp screws 31.

A rectangular, horizontal blade frame 32 is suspended below the middle truss section 11 upon a forward channel hanger 33 and a rear channel hanger 34. The channel hangers 33 and 34 extend upwardly between the side members of the middle truss section 11 and are welded or otherwise secured thereto to form reinforcing spacers for the latter.

The blade frame is of greater width than length and projects equally from both sides of, and at right angles to, the truss member and is suitably braced therefrom by means of suitable diagonal bracing 35.

A tubular wheel shaft 36 is rotatably mounted in suitable bearing boxes 37 on the side members of the blade frame 32 and extends transversely of and below the middle truss section 11. A wheel crank 33 is formed or secured on each extremity of the wheel shaft 36 and projects forwardly therefrom. Each wheel crank supports a wheel mounting spindle 39 upon each of which a pneumatically tired gauge wheel 40 is mounted.

It can be seen that as the gauge wheels 46 travel over rising elevations in the ground, the wheel cranks 38 will be swung upwardly, and as they travel into depr one in the ground, the wheel cranks will be swung downwardly so that the wheel shaft 36 is alternately and reciprocally rotated in consequence of changing ground elevations. The reciprocal rotation of the wheel shaft 36 is employed to raise and lower a scraper blade M.

The scraper blade 41 is mounted between end plates 42 within the outline of the blade frame 32. End draw bar members 43 are secured to the end plates 42 and extend forwardly therefrom to a hinged connection upon hinge bolts 44 extending through the side members of the blade frame 32.

The scraper blade 41 is also provided with a central draw bar 45 which is secured, in any desired manner, at its rear extremity to the blade 41 adjacent the upper edge of the latter and which extends forwardly and downwardly therefrom. The forward extremity of the central draw bar 45 is provided with a hinge ear :6 which is hingedly secured between hinge clips 47 upon a draw bar hinge bolt 48. The clips 47 are welded or otherwise secured to the forward member of the blade frame 32. The axes of the hinge bolts 44 and the hinge bolt 48 are in alignment so that the blade 41 may swing in a vertical are about these axes.

A tubular blade shaft 4? extends between and through the two end plates 42 rearwardly of the scraper blade 41 and adjacent the upper edge of the latter. The blade shaft 49 is rotatably mounted at its extremities in suit able bearing sleeves secured to the end plates 42. The blade shaft 49 is provided at its middle with a pair of hydraulic lever arms 51 between which a hydraulic plunger 52 is mounted upon a suitable hydraulic pivot bolt 53. The plunger extends from a hydraulic cylinder 54, the forward extremity of which is hingedly mounted upon a cylinder hinge bolt 55 extending through mounting cars 56 secured to the central draw bar 4-5. The cylinder is, of course, connected to any suitablesource of hydraulic pressure through any desired conduits and valves as is usual with hydraulic cylinder installations. The blade shaft 4% may be rotated forward and back by controlling the admission of hydraulic fluid to the opposite extremities of the cylinder 54.

A blade lever 37 is formed on or affixed to each on tremity of the blade shaft 49 where the latter protrudes through the end plates 42. The blade levers normally extend rearwardly from the blade shaft 49, and each is connected by means of a vertical connecting link 58 with a blade arm 59 formed on and extending rearwardly from the Wheel shaft 36. The connecting links 58 are attached at their upper extremities to the blade levers 57 by means of suitable attachment bolts 60, and are similarly connected to the rear extremities of the blade arms 59 by means of suitable attachment bolts 61. The blade levers 57 are preferably provided with a plurality of spaced bolt holes 62 so that the positions of the bolts may be varied to vary the active lever arm of the blade levers 57.

The blade levers 57 extend rearwardly from the bolts and terminate in stop bolts 63 which ride in elongated slots 64 formed in stop bars 65 which are hingedly mounted on rearwardly extending extensions of the side members of the bl-ade frame 32 upon suitable hinge bolts 66.

In operation, the leveler is drawn over the surface of the ground to be leveled, by any suitable towing vehicle provided with a source of fluid pressure. Let us assume that there is a hollow place in the ground. When the gauge wheels 40 reach this hollow, they will descend therein since the leveler is supported on the front smoothing blade 14 and the rear trailing wheels 13. The down ward movement of the wheels 49 swings both wheel cranks 38 downwardly at their forward extremities, causing the links 58 to act through the levers 57 to lift the blade shaft 49. Since the plunger 52 cannot move in its cylinder 54- due to the fluid therein, the lift of the links 53 will, be transmitted directly to the end plates 42 to lift the scraper blade 43..

The opposite action takes place when the gauge wheels 40 travel over a bump or a rise in the ground. This causes them to rotate the wheel cranks 38 upwardly at their forward extremities, causing the blade arms 59 to transmit a downward movement to the blade shaft 49, and from thence to the scraper blade 41 so that the bump or rise will be shaved off. The various leverages are so adjusted that hard-packed bumps or rises are cut or shaved below grade, and the hollows are filled to a point above grade to allow natural leveling to take place as the soil packs under weather condititons.

When used for automatic leveling, there is no movement of the plunger 52. The plunger, however, can be used for adjusting the automatic action of the blade by varying the relative position of the blade shaft 49 and its levers 57.

The cylinder 54 and the plunger 52 also adapt the machine for use as a scraper or earth mover, and also provide means for lifting the blade to provide road clearance for traveling purposes. Let us assume that it is desired to force the scraper blade into the ground for earth moving purposes. Fluid is admitted to the rear of the cylinder 54 to draw the plunger 52 forwardly so as to swing the scraper blade downwardly while the rear extremities of the blade levers 57 swing upwardly. This causes the stop bolts 63 to travel to the upper extremities of their slots 64 so that the stop bars 65 act as fulcrurns so that the blade can be pried downwardly into the ground.

To lift the blade for road clearance or for dumping a load of dirt, fluid is admitted to the front of the cylinder 54 to force the lever arms 51 rearwardly so as to rotate the blade shaft and cause the rear extremities of the levers 57 to move downwardly until the stop bolts 63 reach the lower extremities of their slots 64 to again serve as fulerums for prying the blade 41 upwardly from the ground. i

For ordinary scraping purposes the hinge flap 28 may be lifted, as shown in Fig. 5, and the rear trusssection 12 is lifted and removed from place. The device then forms a simple wheeled scraper.

Due to the articulated structure of the truss member, the leveler may be turned in a relatively short radius. The turning movement is first absorbed, by the swinging movement of the tongue member 15 about the vertical axis of the universal mounting device 17, and thence by the relative movement between the two truss sections 11 and 12 about the vertical axis of the hinge shaft 24.

However, when making a sharp turn at the end of the leveling path, the middle truss section 11 is deprived of full support due to the angular position of the rear truss section 12. This acts to impose weight upon the blade frame 32, causing it to draw the blade levers 57 downwardly to force the scraper blade 41 into the earth to create a depression at the point of turning.

In the improved leveler this depression of the scraper blade while turning has been eliminated by the following construction. A spring arm 67 is formed on and extends rearwardly from the mid-portion of the wheel shaft 36. A flexible roller-type chain 68 is secured to the rear extremity of the spring arm by means of a suitable attachment bolt 69. The chain 68 extends upwardly from the spring arm 67 over a notched, hinged chain strut 70, thence rearwardly to the forward extremity of a tension spring 71. The rear extremity of the tension spring 71 is secured to a spring pin 72 projecting upwardly from the forward extremity of a swinging lever 73.

The lever 73 is pivotally mounted on a pivot stud 74 extending downwardly from the bracket 27 in axial alignment with the hinge shaft 24-. The rear extremity of the swinging lever 73 is turned upwardly as illustrated and terminates within the confines of an inverted, U-shaped channel clip 75; welded or otherwise secured to the bottom of the rear truss member 12.

The chain strut 7b is hingedly mounted on a strut pin rs supported from the rear channel hanger 34, and the chain 63 extends through a suitable opening in the rear channel hanger 34. The spring '71 is under tension at all times and serves to tension the chain 68 so as to urge the spring arm 67 upwardly and the wheels 40 downwardly at all times so as to maintain the wheels in firm contact with the ground with the scraper blade floating thereover.

When the leveler makes a turn at the end of the leveling path, the rear truss section 12 will swing horizontally relative to the middle truss section ll. This relative movement will be communicated through the channel clip '75 to the swinging lever/73 to swing the latter to the side, thus increasing the tension in the spring 71. This increased tension is communicated to the wheel shaft 36 and, through the wheel cranks 38, to the wheels it? so as to force the latter downwardly to provide increased support for the truss member to prevent the scrapper blade from gouging during the turn.

it can be seen that the further the rear truss section 12 swings out of alignment with the middle truss section during turns, the less it will support the middle truss section. It can also be seen that the further the rear swings out of alignment, the greater will be the increase in tension in the spring '71. Therefore, the increased support provided is proportional to the need for support, for as the rear truss section swings further to the side, an increasing amount of weight will be transferred from the rear wheels 13 to the middle wheels 49 so that the blade 41 neither picks up nor deposits earth during the turn.

It is desired to call attention to the fact that the chain strut 70 moves only if, and when, the wheel shaft 36 rotates. Therefore, it does not necessarily move on a turn unless, of course, the terrain is uneven.

The spring 71 has three functions: first, it constantly maintains the Wheels ii) in resilient contact with the ground so as to raise and lower theblade in accord with the terrain; second, it transfers the proper proportion of the weight from the rear wheels to the center wheels during a turn, as above described; and third, it stabilizes the rear truss section, that is, it prevents the rear truss section from swinging during short transports and upon side hills when the rear wheels are momentarily out of contact with the gound.

The action of the chain strut 70 is such that as the center wheels travel over a ridge and move upwardly from normal, the center spring arms 67 move downwardly and the chain strut 70 swings down from Its normal position. Thus, even though the tension in the spring is increased, the spring reacts against a reduced leverage, and the downward pressure of the center wheels is actually reduced. Thus, there is less Weight carried on the center wheels as they travel over a ridge, and more of the weight is applied to the cutting edge of the blade to greatly increase its ability to cut through the rid e rather than tend to ride or slide over it.

Conversely, as the center wheels move downwardly from normal into a depression, the center spring arms 67 move upwardly and the chain strut 70 moves upwardly. The tension in the spring is reduced, but it has sufiicient increased mechanical advantage, through the increased leverage, to actually increase the pressure of the wheels against the ground. This greatly expedites the upward travel of the blade 41 to facilitate dumping the load into the depression being crossed.

Thus, there is a constant shift or transfer of weight between the cutting edge and the wheels as the wheels move upwardly and downwardly. This imparts a lively automatic action to the blade causing it to slightly overfill the depressions and to slightly undercut the high spots so that after final setting a perfectly level field will be attained.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described and illustrated herein, it is desired to be understood that the same may be varied, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A land leveling device comprising: a middle truss section; a forward truss section affixed to and extending forwardly and downwardly from said middle truss section in vertical alignment therewith; a forward smoothing shoe; means supporting the forward extremity of said forward truss section from said shoe; a rear truss section ex tending rearwardly and downwardly from the rear extremity of said middle truss section; hinge means securing said rear truss section to said middle truss section, the axis of said hinge means acting to prevent relative vertical movement, yet allowing relative horizontal movement between said rear and middle truss sections; means for supporting the rear extremity of said rear truss section from the ground; a blade frame suspended from said middle truss section and extending transversely thereof; a scraper blade hingedly mounted for vertical movement in said blade frame; a wheel shaft journalled in said blade frame rearwardly of said scraper blade and extending transversely of said middle truss section; a wheel crank on each extremity of said wheel shaft; a ground-engaging wheel rotatably mounted on each wheel crank so that vertical movements of said wheels create rotative movements in said wheel shaft; means for communicating the rotative movements of said wheel shaft to said scraper blade for raising and lowering the latter; a spring arm extending from said wheel shaft in a substantially horizontal direction and in a direction opposite to said wheel cranks; a flexible member secured to said spring arm and extending upwardly and rearwardly therefrom; a tension spring connected to said flexible member and acting to constantly tension the latter so as to create an upward bias on said spring arm so as to urge the wheel cranks downwardly; and a chain strut hingedly supported from said blade frame and engaging said flexible member and acting to convert the horizontal tension thereof into a vertical tension on said spring arm.

2. A land leveling device as described in claim 1 having means for increasing the tension in said tension spring in consequence of horizontal angular movement between said rear truss section and said middle truss section.

3. A land leveling device as described in claim 2 in which the means for increasing the tension in said tension spring comprises: a swinging arm; means pivoting said swinging arm below and in axial alignment with the hinge axis between said rear truss section and said middle truss section, the rear extremity of said spring being connected to the forward extremity of said swinging arm; and means for communicating horizontal movements from said rear truss section to the rear extremity of said swinging arm so as to vary the tension in said spring.

4. A land leveling device as described in claim 3 in which the means for communicating comprises: an inverted, U-shaped clip secured below said rear truss section; and an upturned rear extremity on said swinging arm engaging in said clip.

5. A land leveling device comprising: a middle truss section; a forward truss section afiixed to and extending J forwardly and downwardly from said middle truss section in vertical alignment therewith; a forward smoothing shoe; means supporting the forward extremity of said forward truss section from said shoe; a rear truss section extending rearwardly and downwardly from the rear extremity of said middle truss section; hinge means securing said rear truss section to said middle truss section, the axis of said hinge means acting to prevent relative vertical movement yet allowing relative horizontal movement between said rear and middle truss sections; means for supporting the rear extremity of said rear truss section from the ground; a blade frame suspended from said middle truss section and extending transversely thereof; a scraper blade hingedly mounted for vertical movement in said blade frame; a wheel shaft journalled in said blade frame rearwardly of said scraper blade and extending transversely of said middle truss section; a wheel crank on each extremity of said wheel shaft; a ground-engaging wheel rotatably mounted on each wheel crank so that vertical movements of said wheels create rotative movements in said wheel shaft; means for communicating the rotative movements of said wheel shaft to said scraper blade for raising and lowering the latter; a lower hinge bracket extending rearwardly from the lower portion of the rear extremity of said middle truss member; hearing members mounted on the upper portion of said rear extremity; a tiltable flap mounted between said bearing members; a bearing tube secured to the rear extremity of said rear truss section; a hinge shaft rotatably mounted in said bearing tube, the lower extremity of said hinge shaft resting in a receiving depression in said lower hinge bracket; a non-circular upper extremity on said hinge shaft resting in a non-circular opening in said hinge flap to prevent rotation of said hinge shaft; and means for securing said hinge flap in the engaged position.

6. A land leveling device as described in claim 5 in which the means for securing comprises: a vertical clamp c2 bolt extending upwardly through said lower hinge bracket and through said flap; and means for securing said bolt in place.

7. A land leveling device as described in claim 5 in which the means for supporting the rear extremity of said rear truss section from the ground comprises trailing wheels journalled on the rear extremity of said rear truss section in contact with the ground.

8. A land leveling device as described in claim 7 having a trailing wheel axle extending between said trailing wheels and across the base of said rear truss section; a rear smoothing shoe positioned rearwardly of and parallel to said trailing wheel axle; and means for attaching said blade to said axle.

9. In a land leveler of the type having a rear truss section hingedly connected to the rear of a supporting truss section so that it may swing laterally thereof, and a blade frame suspended from said supporting truss section with ground-engaging wheels arranged to raise and lower a scraper blade in said blade frame, means for increasing the pressure of said wheels against the ground in consequence of relative lateral movements of said truss members, comprising: a lever arm operatively connected with said wheels for imparting vertical movement thereto; a rocking lever pivotally mounted on a vertical axis on said supporting truss section and extending rearwardly into engagement with said rear truss section; and connecting means extending from said rocking lever to said lever arm and transmitting horizontal lateral movements of said rocking lever to said lever arm to impart vertical movement of said wheels.

Shumaker Mar. 31, 1942 Shumaker Sept. 1, 1953 

